Cautionary Tales For Children
Wonderful witty poems great for reading to your children. The stories and rhymes will stay with them for the rest of their lives.
Research has shown how important YOU are to your children and how as a dad the things you do, and keep on doing, really count, whether you live with them, or you are a single dad and are only able see them once a month, once a week or more, what you do really matters. This site is dedicated to all dads but will be of special relevance to the single dad. Remember, you are half the reason your children exist and they need you whether you live with them or not. As their dad, you have what it takes to make their lives successful and fulfilling no matter how often you see them. This site is about all the positive things that we as parents have to offer our children.
Sugar Mice
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Make little sugar mice and then gobble them all up!
Ingredients
Icing sugar
500g
Egg (Medium)
1
Lemon juice
10ml
Water
10ml
Peppermint essence
2 drops
Look at them sitting round the plate wondering what’s going to happen to them... ahhh, don’t they look so cute, what they don’t know is that we’re going to eat them all up.
Who hasn’t crunched up the odd sugar cube, or had a secret nibble on one of those big sugar crystals you get in posh coffee shops? Well we all know that too much sugar is bad for you, but somehow if you turn fuffy icing sugar into solid sugar sugar mice, the idea of eating it doesn’t seem so crazy. Of course, provided you don’t eat too many mice at one sitting and take care of your teeth afterwards, then it is perfectly OK.
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Sugar mice come to us from an age where sweets were somewhat more simple than they are today. Softer and easier to eat than a gobstopper or other traditional types of hardboiled candies, sugar mice are also very easy to make. No cooking is required, and provided that you are careful with the amount of water (or liquid) you add (you only need a tiny amount) you should have very little trouble making some lovely little mice at your first attempt. What’s more, making your own sugar mice is very much cheaper than buying them, and of course they taste better, because you made them. For this recipe I have used sugar laces for the tails, although traditional sugar mice often used regular string (not edible), and I have used some ready mixed chocolate fudge detail icing. This is great for kids to use. It comes in handy little tubes, (also in a range of colours) and is really fun to apply as the finishing touch. Don’t worry if your kids’ mice are all misshapen and have odd shaped eyes, the fun is in the making and then later... the eating as a special treat, or pudding after a meal. You don't need to add the lemon juice or traditional peppermint essence, so all you really need is some icing sugar and an egg and you're off and running.
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Don’t be tempted to make your mice too big. For starters they will take ages to dry out properly and secondly, you really will find out how quickly neat sugar can make you feel sick, quite apart from the fact that eating a lot of sugar all in one go is quite bad for you and your body.
How to make them
Separate an egg so that you have only the white of one egg in a mixing bowl. To do this you crack and open the egg shell and tip the yolk back and forth between the two halves of the shell, letting the white dribble out. Lightly whisk up the egg white so that is a little bit frothy. If you have it, add a few drops of lemon juice, if you want your mice to have a peppermint taste, then add a couple of drops of peppermint essence, although neither of these are necessary. Pour three quarters of the contents of a packet of icing sugar into another mixing bowl. You probably be able to make about ten mice with this. It’s a good idea to save some icing sugar so that you have some to add to the mixture later if it gets too wet. . . .
I can’t stress how little sugar you need to add to the icing sugar in order to make the icing dough. Add the egg white mix a drop at a time and mix it into the icing sugar. You are aiming for a thick solid but pliable dough. If your egg white isn’t enough you can add a few drops of water at the end. When the icing dough is solid and pliable, take it out of the bowl and roll it on a clean dry surface, that you have lightly dusted with icing sugar. The dough should be firm enough to keep its shape if you roll it into a big ball. If it is still a bit runny, put it back in the bowl and add some more icing sugar. When you have got the dough to a firm, stable consistency, pinch off a small amount about the size of a large marble and roll it into a ball between the palms of your hands. Make sure your hands are clean and dry. . . .
Make simple, smooth mouse shapes from each ball by grntly pinching the sides of one end to make the nose. An ideal shape is a teardrop which has been flattened on the base. Do not make your mice too big, because they will take a long time to set, it is likely that they will slump as they set and will be too much to eat in one go! 8. The tails are made from confectionary sugar laces. Make a hole in the back of the mouse using a cocktail stick or a thin chopstick and poke the sugar lace in as far as possible, carefully smoothing the hole round the lace once it is poked right in. The eyes are the finishing touch. To make the eyes, first make one hole in each side of the head end, then either drop a tiny bead of melted chocolate into the hole or use shop-bought, pre-prepared chocolate fudge icing, dispensed conveniently from a small tube.
The recipe instructions are so easy to follow, and they're quick to download.
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Cooking for guests
As a man, there’s something nice about cooking for appreciative guests. Perhaps it’s because it gives you an excuse to show off; or maybe it’s the chance of acting out a little theatre in the kitchen, or conceivably it’s the fulfilling of that primordial hunter gather drive to provide sustenance.
Whatever it is, cooking someone a meal can be such a great pleasure for both you and the person you are cooking it for. Even better if you are able to cook while your guest or guests are actually with you so that you can get them involved in the food preparation, it certainly breaks the ice and is a good way to get the conversation going. There’s also something about moving into a new place and cooking your first few proper meals, it really does make a place feel more like home.
Even if you’ve never cooked before, you'll quickly discover that there really is nothing to it. The recipe instructions are simply written and illustrated to provide guidance at a glance when you’re in the thick of it. I have carefully chosen a few easy to master recipes that are big on results, you know, the sort of food you might expect to get in an expensive restaurant or hotel, but you’re going to be able to make it in a few minutes.
Try Eggs Benedict one night when it’s late and your guest fancies a snack, or perhaps for one of those late morning posh breakfasts with coffee and juice. It’s a very simple meal to make, but so rich and glorious, it will always cause a stir and stick in the memory for a long while. But then, why not try the Seared Tuna Ahi. Personally I never really liked fish, but then one day I tried seared Tuna Ahi steak and I was converted. It’s the most simple meal and to those watching you make it, appears as if you have conjured up a little slice of culinary heaven from thin air in about 10 minutes (this is a great meal to whip up on the barbeque just as easily).
And if you have a good recipe of your own, why not send it in to us so that you can share it with all those other dads wanting to cook for grown ups.
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